A Queensland government announcement that up to 1,200 new social and affordable homes will be built, will not see any additional homes beyond what has previously been announced.
Treasurer Cameron Dick today revealed the homes would be delivered under a partnership struck between the Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) and the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC).
The first seven projects will see almost 600 homes built, with construction set to begin between 2023 and 2025.
"This commercial partnership is a model which has not been seen before in Queensland," Mr Dick said in a statement, a day out from handing down the state budget.
The deal falls under the government's $1 billion housing investment fund, which was announced as part of last year's budget, and does not involve new additional homes — instead it forms part of the government's existing pledge to build 7,400 new social and affordable homes over the next 4 years.
The $1 billion fund was established for its returns to contribute about $160 million in extra funding over the forward estimates to increase supply.
"When applications opened for the $1 billion Housing Investment Fund, we told the market we were seeking proposals which identified new solutions to deliver housing for vulnerable Queenslanders," Mr Dick said.
"It will see BHC leverage QIC's strong track record of securing and managing institutional investment to deliver new social and affordable housing."
'It's a drop in the ocean'
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has accused the government of not doing enough to address the housing crisis.
"You can't see our rental vacancy rates and 50,000 Queenslanders on the [social housing] waiting list and not be alarmed," he said.
"And for the Treasurer to re-announce something from 12 months ago … that's not looking for a housing solution, it's looking for a political one."
Last month the government announced the first two projects from the investment fund, located at Chermside and Redcliffe.
QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh told ABC Radio Brisbane that since the $2.9 billion investment was made by the state government last year, it has actually halved the number of houses delivered compared to the year before, and this announcement was a "drop in the ocean" to what was needed.
"So yes, this model is fantastic. Yes, we see the need to see more money into the housing investment funds. There is potential for more projects, but this is not a new initiative," she said.
"Our social housing register has blown out by 80 per cent over the last four years, so 1,200 new homes ... it's a drop in the ocean."
She said there needed to be about 5,000 houses built per year over the next decade to really deal with the crisis.
"Obviously the state government can't fund that alone. It is fantastic that we have a Prime Minister who grew up in public housing, he's living proof of what happens when you put the roof over the head of a child," she said.
"Unfortunately, if he was living in Queensland right now as a kid, he'd be more likely to be living in a tent or a hotel room.
"We need our prime minister to use his lived experience and turn that into political will, work with our state government so that both levels of government are not only making significant investment, but that we have accelerated construction."
'We need a target for all housing'
It "remains to be seen" whether the Premier's social housing plan is achievable, Master Builders Queensland CEO Paul Bidwell said, given the limited availability of tradespeople and the cost of materials right now.
"It's a shot in the arm for the commercial sector, so there will be a lot of builders who are keen to get hold of this work," he said.
"The question will be what the cost is, and that's something that will need to be worked out between the housing company and the builders, with input from the state government."
Executive director of Q Shelter Fiona Caniglia said the state government really needed to organise a housing roundtable or summit to bring all the stakeholders together to collaborate on a solution.
"We're calling on the government to work with our sector, to really identify a target," she said.
"We really think that there's encouraging signs that our government, local government, and mayors are coming out to try and see more homes come out of the short-term rental market and into the long-term rental market.
"There's also examples of the private sector coming forward to talk about build to rent models at scale, which would be really positive. It's why we think the state government has a critical role in bringing together those different stakeholders to to achieve progress on many fronts."
